Aaron Judge robs a Shohei Ohtani HR, then hits a HR in 1st inning of Yankees-Angels
Aaron Judge knows how to open a game.
The New York Yankees star had one of the best first innings you'll ever see Wednesday against the Los Angeles Angels, starting when fellow former AL MVP Shohei Ohtani hit a long fly ball to center field.
The ball was on track to be a solo homer, measured by Statcast to go 411 feet in a stadium that has a 408-foot depth in center field. Then the 6-foot-7 Judge leaped up and pulled the homer back in, first knocking it out of the air with his glove and then catching it with his bare right hand after it came loose.
Aaron Judge brings back a souvenir from Monument Park. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/51SvOak7V5
— MLB (@MLB) April 19, 2023
For perspective, Statcast gave Ohtani's fly ball a .970 expected batting average. Balls such as that have a 3% chance of becoming outs.
Judge followed the catch with his own home run to left field in the bottom of the inning. And Angels left fielder Taylor Ward wasn't robbing this one.
Top of the 1st: @TheJudge44 robs a homer.
Bottom of the 1st: He clobbers one. pic.twitter.com/o5O4vyG1IM— MLB (@MLB) April 19, 2023
Judge is off to a strong start in 2023, though not quite as strong as the 2022 campaign that saw him set an American League record with 62 homers. He entered Wednesday hitting .271/.366/.559 with five homers and 9 RBIs in 17 games.
His sixth homer of the season put him in a tie for second in the AL alongside Ryan Mountcastle of the Baltimore Orioles. Boston Red Sox star Rafael Devers currently leads the league with seven homers.
